Debate Continues After China Arrests Salt Panic Culprit

A week after panic over radiation from quake-damaged reactors in Japan sent table salt flying off the shelves across China, the country is engaged in debate over who was responsible and who should have to foot the bill.

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In a picture taken on March 17, 2011 Chinese shoppers crowd a shop in an effort to buy salt in Lanzhou, northwest China’s Gansu province.

Chinese authorities seemed to have partially answered the first question Monday after state-run Xinhua news agency reported that police in the coastal city of Hangzhou had arrested a 31-year old Internet user in Zhejiang Province for “spreading salt rumors.” The man, whose surname is Chen, was detained for 10 days and fined 500 yuan, or $76, for posting a note online saying radiation from Japan had polluted the sea off China’s coast and urging people to stock up on salt and kelp, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, China Daily reported that in Shanghai police plan to prosecute two unidentified men for posting comments online that claimed the city would be severely contaminated as a result of Japan’s nuclear leaks, citing local news service Xinmin.cn.

But many, including some in the official Chinese media, aren’t willing to let the blame fall on Internet users.

Reporting on Mr. Chen’s arrest Tuesday, the state-run China Daily quoted Qiu Liping, a professor in the sociology department at Shanghai University, blaming the government for not releasing information about the situation in Japan quickly enough to head off fears: “The panic perhaps could have been avoided if the government had released enough reliable information in response to the recent series of disasters in Japan.”

Another person quoted by China Daily, 82-year-old salt buyer Lu Huizhen, indicated the Internet wasn’t the only place rumors spread: “I got my earthquake fears from another old lady in the market, who made me believe that Shanghai will be severely affected soon.” The fear inspired by that sidewalk chatter was so strong, the newspaper said, that Lu’s daughter had to stop her from withdrawing all her savings from the bank and moving inland.

The panic, which began in China’s coastal provinces on Wednesday night and spread rapidly throughout the country, appears to have been fed both two strains of misinformation: First, that radiation from reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, might contaminate future salt supplies; and, second, that the iodine in common table salt can mimic potassium iodide pills in helping ward off thyroid cancer as a result of radiation exposure.

Jittery customers bought up approximately 370,000 tons of salt across China last Thursday, another 220,000 tons on Friday and 82,000 tons on Saturday, according to figures from the China National Industry Salt Corp quoted in a China Daily report on Monday. Typically Chinese shoppers will buy 15,400 tons of salt per day, China Daily said.

Now that frazzled nerves are settling, those who find themselves with more salt than they could ever use are scrambling to figure out what to do with all of it—and more than a few have argued they should be allowed to return it for a refund.

Regretful hoarders are not having an easy time getting their money back. According to a report by China Central Television, one Shanghainese woman brought back more than 50 packs of salt and was given a refund, but only after she threatened to call the police. Beijing stores are being more intransigent. “The national regulations on the return of food are very strict,” one store manager in the capital was quoted by China Daily as saying. “No refunds will be allowed unless there is a quality problem.”

Across China’s Internet opinion is divided as to whether the hoarders are entitled to refunds or not, but the most colorful responses appear to belong to those in the “no” camp.

“It’s a joke that those who have bought too much now want refunds for the salt,” wrote one blogger. “You profit from others’ expense but spit on your own blanket. For those who want to refund the salt, it is high time you learned to take the blame.”

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